Emptiness and Illusion - Two Truths - Heart Sutra - Ultimate Reality

Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart Sūtra,
written in the Siddhaṃ script.
Bibliothèque nationale de France

Mind/Body Dualism

This little essay started as a discussion of mind/body dualism with a friend. Out discussion then proceeded with a comparison of materialism and idealism. Then my friend made the following point, after I brought up the illusory nature of reality, 

"If you feel that physical reality is an illusion, kick a rock as one materialist has argued. That is unless you think the pain you feel is an illusion. That takes an awful lot of denial."

Illusory Nature of Reality

In my opinion, the concept of "illusion" is not well understood in this example. My understanding is that idealism does not deny perceived reality, it simply states that our sensory inputs are quite different from the realization of an objective reality existing outside of our mind. Of course, when we kick a rock we feel pain; idealism does not deny our pain (or any other perceived or imagined sensory phenomena). 

Physics Declares No Solid Objects Exist

Physics explains that when we kick a rock we feel pain because of the strong electron-electron repulsion force between the rock and our toe. Physics tells us that the rock and our toe (or any perceived "solid" object) are really just clouds of invisible particles held together by powerful electrical forces and that solid objects are mostly empty space. Therefore physics declares that there exists no such thing as a solid object despite our painful toe. The illusion is the apparent perceived solidity of objects. 

With that said, we don't go around saying, "Ouch! The volume of mostly empty space that I perceive as my body just experienced a strong electron-electron repulsion force with the volume of mostly empty space that I perceive as a rock." Practically speaking, we just say "F**k, I just stubbed my toe on a rock!" 

What is an electron really? Have you ever seen an electron? If you have not perceived an electron directly using your senses, does it exist outside of your mind? 

Do We Live in a Dream?

We perceive apparently external objects and have strong feelings in our dreams, but the objects in our dreams are not objectively real; they do not exist outside of our mind. This is why the illusory nature of reality is often likened to a dream.

Phantom pain is pain that feels like it's coming from a body part that's no longer there. Synesthetes can often “see” music as colors when they hear it, and “taste” textures like “round” or “pointy” when they eat food. The rock that we kicked that caused us pain is mostly empty space. The examples of the illusory nature of the reality perceived by our senses are endless. 

We only see 0.0035 percent of the Electromagnetic Truth

As humans we are in many ways limited by what our senses can directly tell us about the universe, that's why scientists invent instrumentation that extends our senses. The entire rainbow of radiation observable to the human eye only makes up a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum – about 0.0035 percent. We are in this way misled by our visual sense. We feel that what we see is "real" and existing outside of ourselves, however even if you trusted your eyes 100% this is only 0.0035 percent of the electromagnetic truth.

Expansive knowledge of the universe has been gathered with the invention of powerful instruments used to explore the microcosm and macrocosm. It is the mind that developed and tested the theories upon which these tools were created. It is the mind that engineered and developed these tools. It is the mind that gathered the data from these tools which then found patterns in the data and developed new theories, more sensitive tools, etc., etc.

Flying on Instrument Readings

Pilots are taught to fly by their instruments and trust the data from their instruments and not their own senses. I underwent some pilot training in the Air Force Academy and experienced first hand how our senses can be easily fooled. For example, lots of disorienting fun can be had by spinning in a chair LOL. In aviation, a graveyard spiral is a type of dangerous spiral dive entered into accidentally by a pilot who is not trained or not proficient in instrument flight when flying in instrument meteorological conditions. 

Our survival in this highly technological world is dependent upon our ability to cognize data delivered to us by instrumentation and not by our unaided senses. This is another way to understand the illusory nature of perceived reality. Of course, we must perceive the instrument readings through our senses, however it is the mind that must intervene and draw conclusions from the instrument data in order to decide how best to act.

Science is flying on instrumentation. The enormous amounts of instrument data analyzed on a daily basis by human minds is unimaginable. This instrument data has extended the human neurological system far beyond what can be perceived. Our best knowledge and understanding of conventional truth are conceptual models derived empirically and mathematically by the mind. The mind has elevated our understanding of phenomena and describes with greater and greater accuracy conventional truth. 

Two Truths - Conventional and Ultimate

The ever-evolving mind in this way has developed conceptual models of conventional reality far beyond what we can directly perceive. However, I believe that ultimate truth is beyond what even the mind can understand. 

The Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism investigates the workings of the mind, stating that only the mind or the representations we cognize, really exist. In later Buddhist Mahayana thought, which took an idealistic turn, the unmodified mind came to be seen as a pure consciousness, from which everything arises. This is what makes sense to me. 

Pure Consciousness

My friend often talks about what he calls, "Pure Consciousness," but I'm not certain if his meaning is the same as the Mahayana teaching. 

The Heart Sutra

The famous statement from the Heart Sutra, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form," is also relevant. The Heart Sutra is a condensed exposé on the Buddhist Mahayana teaching of the Two Truths doctrine (conventional and ultimate truth). The Two Truths doctrine says that ultimately all phenomena are empty of an unchanging essence. This emptiness is a 'characteristic' of all phenomena, and not a transcendent reality, but also "empty" of an essence of its own. 

In the Heart Sutra, Avalokiteśvara (the Buddhist deity of compassion) explains the fundamental emptiness of all phenomena, known as the five aggregates of human existence: form, feeling, volitions, perceptions, and consciousness. This is interpreted according to the Two Truths doctrine as saying that teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality—they are not reality itself—and that they are therefore not applicable to the ultimate truth that is by definition beyond mental understanding.

Perfection of Wisdom Mantra

The Heart Sutra, Perfection of Wisdom mantra in Sanskrit is: 

gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā

meaning

"gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, awaken, rejoice"

Consciousness Only / Yogacara / Emptiness

A lot of what we seek as spiritual explorers can be satisfied with an understanding of the nature of consciousness. I gather that this is why we question the nature of mind and reality. We seek a level of understanding beyond the mundane. For many of us this becomes a thirst and hunger for esoteric knowledge or jnana (as it is known in Sanskrit).

One of the challenges to realize a deep understanding of the nature of consciousness is to heighten our awareness beyond our senses and beyond our mental and conceptual activity. This is required because reality can be treated as consciousness-only. Reality is perception and mental activity. Once we achieve an awareness not bound by perception and mental activity, we clearly see both the nature of reality and the nature of consciousness. To fully realize this nature we need jnana's perception.

In Tibetan Buddhism, jnana refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances. The Uttaratantra Shastra is a profound teaching on Buddha-nature attributed by the Tibetans to Maitreya, the future Buddha. To realize our Buddha-nature is to gain enlightenment and achieve awareness of the true nature of reality, or Tathatā.

• The Uttaratantra; A Treatise on Buddha-Essence
by Thrangu Rinpoche
Link: http://amzn.com/1877294292 )

From the Uttaratantra by Maitreya, a treatise on Buddha-Essence -

The Sangha - The Third Vajra Point - The Salutation

I bow down to those whose mind is no longer obscured,

the deeply realized who have jnana's perception,

awareness of the total purity present in limitless beings.

As the true nature of mind is lucid clarity,

they see the defilements to be without essence

and truly realize ultimate no-self -- 

peace within all beings. Thus they know

the all-pervading presence of perfect Buddhahood

in each and every one of them.

This salutation to the enlightened Sangha also reveals what might be called the web-like nature of universal love, "truly realize ultimate no-self peace within all beings." It is wonderful how the text provides a definition of unconditional love.

I have studied the nature of mind, consciousness, compassion, love and emptiness since I was a teenager. However, my milestone achievement was when I took the empowerment for the Progressive Stages of Mediation on Emptiness from Khenpo Tsultrum Gyamtso Rinpoche at KTD Monastery in Woodstock, NY. This is in my experience the most profound path of wisdom leading directly to peace, love, happiness and enlightenment.

• Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness 
  by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
  (Link: http://amzn.com/1877294012) 

In this teaching Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche presents the main schools of Buddhist philosophy with their progressively more subtle and refined views of reality. However, it is not just a teaching on the view but a presentation providing the student the means to realize it through meditation practice. The idea of a series of meditation practices on a particular aspect of the Buddha's teachings is that by beginning with one's first rather coarse commonsense understanding, one progresses through increasingly subtle and more refined stages until one arrives at complete and perfect understanding. Each stage in the process prepares the mind for the next in so far as each step is fully integrated into one's understanding through the meditation process.

Here is another book that is worthy of investigation, but only for the truly dedicated:

• Three Texts on Consciousness Only
  by Vasubandhu
  (Link: http://amzn.com/1886439044)

The Three Texts on Consciousness Only is a commentary on the Indian Buddhist monk Vasubandhu's Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā (Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only) and gives an exposition of the Yogācāra (Mind-Only) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā was composed in the 4th century CE and became one of the core texts for the Yogācāra school.

In Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness Stage 5, Emptiness-Of-Other (Shengtong Approach) is the same as the Yogacara Mind-Only school as explained in Three Texts on Consciousness Only. In this way, a study of both texts take the seeker on a deep dive into the heart of the Buddhist understanding of the nature of consciousness and the nature of reality.

Please keep in mind that ultimately, it is our attainment of a direct experience of emptiness through the diligent practice of meditation that provides us with jnana's perception. One must put down the books and spend regular intervals of time in meditation to gain progress.

Here is an excerpt from Three Texts on Consciousness Only, Chapter 1: Demonstration of Consciousness Only.

... the ultimate reality that is revealed by emptiness (sunyata)

and absence of self exists, does not exist, both exists and does not

exist, and neither exists nor does not exist. It demolishes the processes

of thought and language and is neither the same as dharmas,

nor different from them, etc. It is the true principle of dharmas,

hence it is called the "true nature of dharmas." It is called "space"

because it is free of all impediments. It is called "cessation resulting

from discrimination" because through the power of discrimination

it ends various impurities and one understands thoroughly.

Or, as a result of being revealed by the absence of conditions, it is

called "cessation resulting from the absence of conditions." Feelings

of pleasure and pain are removed, so it is called "immovable."

It is called "cessation of thought and feeling" (samjna-vedita-nirodha)

because thought and feeling are not active. These five unconditioned

dharmas are provisionally established on the basis of ultimate reality.

But "ultimate reality" itself is merely a provisionally granted name.

To refute the idea that it does not exist, it is said to exist.

To refute the idea that it does exist, it is said to be empty.

But it must not be thought to be empty and illusory, so it is

said to be real. Because this principle is not false or erroneous, it is

said to be the ultimate nature of everything. It is also called the 

"ultimate nature of everything" because it is not the same as the

real, eternal dharma called "ultimate nature of everything" apart

from form, mind, etc., of other schools. Thus none of the above

unconditioned dharmas really exists.

Dharmas grasped by non-Buddhist schools and other schools

of Buddhism do not really exist apart from mind and mental

activities, because they are grasped in the same way that mind and

mental activities are grasped by mind itself. The apprehension

that grasps them does not have them as objects, because it grasps,

like the apprehension that takes as an object this same intellect.

Also, because mind and its activities arise in mutual dependence,

they do not really exist, just as magical illusions do not. In order to

refute the false attachment to a really existing realm exterior to

mind and its activities, we teach that there is nothing but

consciousness (vijñaptimātratā). But if one believes that consciousness

only really exists, this is no different from attachment to external

objects, and it remains attachment to dharmas.

This is one page from this 450 page book. Definitely not light reading, however from this one page you can perhaps obtain a glimpse of jnana's perception of the true nature of reality, dharmatā, suchness, thusness, or Tathatā.

Thusly and Lovingly,

http://www.Karmatetra.com 

Wearing the Sun Mask: Giving and Receiving Meditation

A friend recently shared with me difficulties with working in the family business. It felt futile to try to make improvements in order to achieve prosperity. The chaotic family dynamics present  a seemingly insurmountable challenge. How is it possible to attain the focus required to rise above the situation? The tendency to fall into negative patterns constantly inhibits the ability to move forward and achieve the dream of prosperity.

The quest for prosperity is fickle even under the best circumstances. Sometimes it appears very possible, other times it seems impossible. Accepting the chaos is not easy. Even after achieving acceptance, learning how to effectively live within the chaos is more difficult still.

This story reminded me of the "Theater of the Absurd", the existentialist plays and poetry. Have you read some of the plays by Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett and Jean-Paul Sartre? The genre embraces tragic (but somehow comical) studies of characters stuck in chaotic life situations; stuck in samsara. The play "No Exit" epitomizes the condition of suffering. 

The satirists do not provide the instruction on how to exit chaos. It is Buddhism that teaches us that the only escape from samsara is enlightenment.

When we are stuck in chaotic circumstances we feel weighed down by the gravity of our situation. Gravity is all embracing. It is a type of nostalgia for becoming spherical; returning to the womb. But we do not see it as spherical, we perceive it as horizontal. Life is two-dimensional. We are flatlanders and cannot see beyond the horizon.

Succumbing to gravity is a condition of cycling, orbiting and localization. We can think of it as being stuck in a pattern of cyclic existence. The Buddhists call this samsara. We feel as if there is movement, and there is, but there is a lot of going around in circles. We cannot escape from the surface.

Escaping gravity is to be radiant and expand beyond the surface of our situation. It is not easy to rise above and escape the pull of flatland thinking. We must look to the heavens. Our intention must be to focus upward and outward from the surface.

Bucky Fuller said, "Horizontal is to die, vertical is to live."

Rising above the horizontal gravitation-ally challenged existence requires building up a great deal of potential energy. Like a rocket that requires a tremendous fuel supply to reach escape velocity, we must find a source of energy and fuel ourselves for this great vertical journey. 

So we meditate and gather our strength and store up the fuel in our tanks. We do nothing other than sit and breathe; watching our breath go in and out.

Meditation is a subversive method of planning our escape. I say "subversive" in a good way. We subvert our tendency to move sideways, scuttling around the surface like a nervous crab. Instead, we connect with the emptiness of our efforts to find prosperity in this flatland, within samsara. Once we realize the truth of this emptiness we can sit perfectly still and put our mind at rest, abandoning our quest for prosperity.

What, did I say? Abandon our quest for prosperity? This is indeed a subversive thought. However, there is great joy in abandoning prosperity. Through meditation we embrace the simple, profound truth of finding ultimate meaning in the simple act of sitting up straight, breathing in and out. The joy and boundless energy of the cosmos washes over us. We are free of gravity and become a source of radiant energy ourselves. Focused on the single task of breathing in and out we discover an infinite store of radiant energy.

This is the essence of the meditation practice of "Tonglen", the Tibetan Buddhist practice of "Giving and Receiving". We breath in and receive the suffering of all beings trapped in samsara. We breath out and transmit radiant joy and happiness to all beings with the intent to alleviate their suffering. 

Breath in and feel the gravity of all beings' situation. Use the gravity to pull in all the suffering of all beings into a critical mass in the center of your heart. Like our Sun pulls in all surrounding matter and fuses the very atoms together releasing profound life-giving radiant energy, we convert this mass of suffering into boundless joy and radiate positive energy throughout the surrounding universe.

Sun mask sculpture, "Tamanuitera" by James Webster,
a Maori multimedia artist working with wood sculpture,
stone, bone, painting and mural creations.
He comments that his work is
"Art as a passion in life and a journey of discovery."
Pasted from <http://www.carving.co.nz/webster.php> 

We become a living-breathing Sun God. We put on the Sun Mask and shine our light throughout the world. The Sun is the ultimate victor over gravity, using gravity to fuse cold, dark, life-less matter into radiant life-giving energy, the source of fuel for all life in the cosmos. 

Would you like to know how the Sun performs this miracle of giving and receiving? Breath in and breath out, give and receive.

The Activity Of Meditation

I would like to explore the idea of stillness during meditation. I believe that many people who do not meditate mistakenly think that meditation is all about being very still. However, stillness is not what I achieve when I meditate. In my experience, meditation is filled with activity and creativity. Allow me to explain what happens when I meditate.
One of the first books that I read on the practice of meditation by a highly realized Tibetan Buddhist teacher is Meditation In Action, by Chogyam Trungpa. The title itself says a lot about what the book reveals. I mention it here because of our ongoing discussion of meditation, creativity, activity and stillness.

From the description of Meditation In Action:

"He explores the six activities associated with meditation in action—generosity, discipline, patience, energy, clarity, and wisdom—revealing that through simple, direct experience, one can attain real wisdom: the ability to see clearly into situations and deal with them skillfully, without the self-consciousness connected with ego."

From the book, opposite the title page:

"The design on the cover is based on one of the seals of the Trungpa Tulkus (reincarted Trungpa Lamas). It is the Sanskrit word "Evam", meaning "Thus" and is used at the beginning of all sutras "Thus I have heard". At another level "E" represents the passive, and "Vam" the active force in the Universe. At a still deeper level "E" represents Emptiness, and "Vam", the Clear Light."

The multidimensional symbol of "Evam" is another reason I thought it appropriate to include the book cover here. There is no doubt that the creation of the seal of the Trungpa Tulkus was developed from a deeply meditative state. This is an example of the act of creation of a graphic symbol artistically developed to convey a profound multidimensional meaning. Furthermore, this symbol represents both the unity of passive and active forces in the universe, and the unity of emptiness and clear light.

For me, there is no stillness, even while seated in deep meditation. The universe is constantly in motion. The meditative technique includes body awareness. All my senses are working while I witness my breath going in and out, my heart beating, the incense filling my nostrils, the sight of the flickering candle, environmental sounds, the stress of the muscles in my arms, legs, spine and neck, etc. In addition, I practice walking meditation, which in that case involves walking around in circles. Sometimes meditation involves mental analysis. The practice of a Puja requires chanting, hand gestures, visualization techniques and sometimes playing a musical instrument or manipulating a ritual object. So there is activity of all sorts during meditation.

Really the only difference for me between mundane activities and meditation, is that meditation removes ego and increases realization of the ultimate nature of reality.

What happens for me during Vipassana (insight) meditation is that as I sit and concentrate on my breath, I become more in the moment. Extraneous, random and distracting thoughts disappear. I become aware of the Universe as it really is. Sometimes inspirational thoughts emerge.

From Wikipedia:

Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (विपश्यना, Sanskrit) in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi (vipaśyin). Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of sitting meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha. It is a practice of self-transformation through self-observation and introspection to the extent that sitting with a steadfast mind becomes an active experience of change and impermanence. In English, vipassanā meditation is often referred to simply as "insight meditation".

This point is very important to me regarding insight meditation, awareness "becomes an active experience of change and impermanence." This is the awareness of the ultimate nature of reality; the union of Emptiness and Clear Light.

As is in keeping with the realization of the union of Emptiness and Clear Light, the experience of insight meditation is itself a creative act. The mind is not "turned off," it is simply in touch with the essence of reality.

Therefore, this is a prime opportunity to practice creative multidimensional thinking and to open myself to visualizations of geometric symbols representative of higher states of consciousness. The nature of how the Universe works is revealed during meditation, why not participate actively in the dance at that very moment? The better question is, "How can you sit still and not participate?"